1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to rubrails used as bumpers at the gunwale of watercraft and to mooring lines used for mooring watercraft to dock facilities, and more particularly to a combined rubrail and mooring line receptacle apparatus for storing the mooring line in a ready to use outstretched configuration when the mooring line is not in use.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Watercraft, such as motor and sail boats, utilize fore and aft mooring lines at each of the port and starboard sides thereof to secure the watercraft to a dock facility. In this regard, the dock facility generally has a number of cleats or other structures, such as pilings, to which mooring lines of the watercraft may be connected.
Typically, a watercraft will have a mooring line for being connected with cleats on the watercraft in anticipation of future and present docking needs. Cleats are usually provided fore and aft at each of the starboard and port sides of the watercraft, whereupon four mooring lines would be needed to be connected to these four cleats.
Rubrails are located at the gunwale of a watercraft and serve as bumpers when the watercraft comes alongside some object, such as for example a dock or another watercraft. Usually, rubrails are composed of an elastomeric material so as to absorb and manage minor impacts, and they extend usually around the entire perimeter of the watercraft, with the possible exception of the stern. Rubrails may be connected to the gunwale by fasteners or another fastening modality, such as an adhesive.
Problematically, when a skipper leaves dock, the mooring lines may be loosely placed on the boat deck, whereafter they may slide off and then dangle into the water. Dangling mooring lines are, of course, unsightly and they can add drag and pose other problems to operation of the watercraft. On the other hand, if the mooring lines are secured to some component of the boat deck to prevent potential dangling, then when the mooring lines need to be made ready for docking considerable time and effort must be expended to free the lines. This lost time could be critical if a skipper is in need of a fast securement to the dock in the event of an untoward docking situation, such as when other boats may limit free navigation or high seas or winds make docking particularly tricky. Generally, the stern mooring lines are easily accessible by the passengers, as they are located at the ingress/egress area of the watercraft. But, the bow mooring lines are remotely located, and frequently require someone to walk the deck to the front of the watercraft, which can involve some danger, and may also involve delay in deploying the bow mooring line or lines.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is some effective, simple and easy to use a rubrail to hold mooring lines in a stored state, yet be instantly available when docking is imminent.